Special American Talents

Wow, what a week it has been! The heat is really picking up and we're on the run trying to help out all of our amazing investigators. We've been teaching various families around here, but unfortunately most of them need to get married before they can prepare for baptism. The families that we're teaching are fantastic and I've never felt so much love and gratitude from so many amazing people. There really is nothing more gratifying then when somebody tells you how much your presence as a missionary means to their family, and how much of a difference you make.

It makes me think of the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 18:

13. And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!




14. Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.




15. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!




16. And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

I am so happy here on the mission! I feel so much joy from helping these people know and come unto Christ!

But some other things that were going on this week. So, Sister Horn and I are Americans, right? So sometimes it causes a bit of attention...haha. Our neighbor works at a school where she teaches Portuguese, but her really good friend is an English teacher there. They asked us if we would be willing to come to the school and do a presentation about American culture this past week. So Sister Horn and I decided why the heck not, and accepted the offer! Let me just say, it was the coolest, funniest and best experience ever! These kids just loved us! They asked questions, we made contacts, we developed good community relations, and we received references.

Man, we were celebrities! haha You've probably even seen the pictures on facebook already...haha But the best part of all were the three youth that ran up to us on the street yesterday because they remembered us! It made it all worth it. The whole experience definitely opened up a few doors for the missionaries in the future.

But anyways, I'm doing very well. Sister Horn and I are trying to use our "unique" American talents to bless the people here in Sapiranga, and I'm loving life.

I hope that you are all doing well, and staying strong!

Love you all!



Sister Stevens

Rushing by

9/29/14


What a great and crazy week! This transfer is going by fast, and the weeks are going by faster. Sister Horn and I are working our tails off to help as many children of God as we can! This week was a hard one, because we were traveling back and forth from Porto Alegre to Sapiranga to Lajeado and who knows what other cities. It was a week full of traveling, so it left us with only 3 days to work in our area. But miracles happen when you count on the Lord and after a week of craziness, sister conferences, trips to the police station to renew visas and exchanges with other sisters, we managed to help an amazing young woman enter the waters of baptism.


Yesterday, Amanda Gabriela dos Santos was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was an awesome day! And even though she didn't want to wear the hideous white jumpsuit *haha* she got over her embarrassment and was baptized. The best part though was when we were talking to her in the bathroom and she said that she felt so much better... This is what makes my work worth it. Knowing that I've actually helped these people to feel "so much better."


I love the mission. It´s getting crazier and crazier as the time passes. More and more responsibilities and meetings and exchanges, but i´m loving it!


The transfer is coming to a close, I think that I´ll be staying here in Sapiranga with Sister Horn. At least I hope so!


I´m excited to listen to a prophets voice this weekend for General Conference. I know that it´s going to be amazing and inspired. I can´t wait to hear what has to be said.


I love you all and miss you. Fica firme e feliz sempre!


Tchau,


Sister Stevens

Ficar Feliz

                   

9/22/14

Hellloooo people,

I know, it´s been a while since I've written much, but things have been going crazy around here. There´s a lot to do and not enough time to do it all! But miraculously everything works out in the end.

Last week there was a surprise emergency transfer here on the mission. 3 new Americans arrived, and I received a new American companion. I was really sad to see Sister Loner leave. I really loved being her companion, but the Lord knows what he´s doing, right?! But when I heard that I was getting a new American, let´s just say I freaked out a bit. AN AMERICAN?! WHHHYYYYYYY??? It´s so much harder, and Americans are weird... haha That´s pretty much what I was thinking the whole time! But when I got to the Rodoviária to switch companions, I met Sister Horn from Kirtland, Ohio. She´s amazing! She´s really funny and for 4 days in Brazil she´s speaks really good Português! She was a "visa waiter" for 8 months in the states. She´s doing great, adjusting well and excited to work here in Brasil. It´s a whole new world, new expectations and a completely different mission... But she's ready and willing to change and learn how it is here in Brasil.

Miracles are happening here in Sapiranga. The transfer is flying by fast, but we´re preparing more of God´s children to enter into the waters of Baptism. It´s hard work and we´re fighting against the adversary at every turn, but it´s amazing to see how much more power there is on the Lord´s side.

Please pray for us so that everything works out with our baptism this Sunday. Her name is Amanda and she´s 14 years old. She´s really cute, even with her rebelous nose peircing and all! haha

I´m loving the mission, and just so you know, I´m really thinking about staying here forever! haha I have so much more to learn and so many more people to help! I love it!

I hope that all is going well, and that everyone is happy and healthy!

In the words of my Sister leader companion in her horribly conjugated Português..."Só Ficar Feliz!"

Amo muito vocês e sinto falta! Mas, amo a missão e nunca quero voltar! rsrs Só brincando! Fica bem, fica feliz, e até a próxima!


Sister Stevens

What a wonderful week!

Hello family and friends!  It´s another day here in the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission.  Today is a super cloudy day, and we´re just hoping that the downpour doesn´t start until we get home!9/15/14

Last week was super long and crazy without a normal p-day.  We went to the temple on Tuesday and didn´t even get back to our area until 9:45 pm.  It was pretty crazy.

We were dying from lack of sleep.  I think that I had to wake up before 6:30 almost every day last week!  All I wanna do is sleep in.  aka- all I want to do is sleep until 6:30!  

It was a great week though.  We worked and sweated a lot.  The heat is starting to set in, but we have a lot of great people that we´re helping.  I can´t believe that it´s already the 4th week of the transfer.  It´s going by way too fast.  

Yesterday the other Sisters had a baptism!  They baptized an amazing family!  It was a crazy adventure helping them get to baptism, including helping them get married on Friday morning.  It was the first time I had ever seen a courthouse wedding.  Sister Loner and I are hoping to help one of our families do the same thing this transfer. They´re really awesome, but we need a lot of help and prayers to get them there.  

Something really cool happened yesterday.  We were walking down the street and a woman working at a pharmacy stopped us and asked us if we were Mormons.  We said yes, and she told us that she had had a dream recently that she was inside of a huge, beautiful mormon church... She told us that her friend recently got baptized in Bahia(it´s a city in another state in Brazil), and that she wanted to visit this 'huge, beautiful Mormon church"  when she goes to visit him.  We marked a visit with her today.  It´s just really cool how the Lord works, and how so many times, out of the middle of nowhere people show up and ask you about the church.  We´re hoping and praying that she´s our golden investigator this transfer!   

But anyway, I hope that everyone is doing well.  I´m so excited for General Conference that´s coming up.  It´s gonna be great.  I´m so happy to be here in Brazil, working and sweating and helping all of my brothers and sisters.  Have a wonderful week, and don´t forget to help the missionaries!  

Have a perfect week!  

Sister Stevens

I'm going to the Temple!

9/09/14

Hello Family! How are you all doing today?! I didn´t write yesterday because today is my p-day. We're going to the temple! Woohoo!

This was a good week! I did my first split as sister leader. So, a sister leader trainer is different from a regular trainer. I´m not actually training the new sisters or anything, but I watch over the sisters on the mission. We make splits with them, we help them if they´re not doing well. We visit, call, etc... Then we talk about what´s going on with them for President if there are any serious problems going on.

My first division was good. Sister Lourenço, my second companion, came to my area to work with me for the day. It was weird doing a split with my "step mom" that´s for sure. Me and Sister Martinez take care of 10 sisters and then our companions (who we´re training). It´s really interesting to be a sister leader, but its stressful too, because you´re always leaving your area and your investigators. But I think I'm starting to get the routine down.

Everything´s going great here. This ward is awesome!

Anyway, have a great week! I love you!

Sister Stevens

My hair dryer doesn't work here because the voltage is different...

so I have to use the mini heater to dry my hair

GIANT CHIMARRAO!

Video

9/01/14

Wow, I loved this video! The beginning is in Portuguese, but you get the idea.

It really puts into perspective how important the gospel of Jesus Christ is, and how grateful we should be to have this restored gospel in our lives.

I´m so grateful to be here on the mission, teaching the world about this wonderful truth, That God loves us so much that he has called his holy prophets to lead and guide us on our journey through this life. I am so grateful for the true gospel of Jesus Christ.


Sister Stevens

Sapiranga

9/01/14

Wow, what a week it has been. I´m in a new area, with a new companion, with new responsibilities. My new companion is Sister Loner from São Paulo! She´s amazing! She´s on her second transfer, so we´re finishing up her training together. We´re serving in the Sapiranga ward with 2 other sisters. One is from Ecuador and the other is from Argentina. They´re a hoot!

Our apartment is full of a lot of crazy and hilarious moments, that´s for sure!

This week was full of getting to know a new area. The area is pretty big, and it´s full of my favorite, HILLS! Lots and lots of hills! haha Nah, it´s really not that bad. The members here are amazing. They love missionaries! They love to fatten us up that is. They give us cake, and pizza and soda... Wow, it´s a lot of stuff. Let´s just hope that the giant hills make up for the side effects of the food...

I´m doing really great here in Sapiranga. This week starts all the fun. We have our first leader meeting this week in Porto Alegre, then we have interviews with President Wright, and then Sister Martinez (the other Sister Leader) and I are going to do our first divisions with the sisters in Novo Hamburgo. They´re about an hour away from us.

I´m excited to see how this week goes. It´s gonna be interesting!

I hope that you´re all doing well and that you´re happy. Time is flying by here on the mission. I have so little time, and so much left to do!

But anyway, until next week!

Sister Stevens

A photo from last week's baptism!